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1.16.2010

the harper attack on canadian democracy, the long version

Why are we protesting on January 23? Here's the long answer.

Most of us who oppose Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament know that this is not the first time the Prime Minister has thumbed his nose at democracy. My own passion, US war resisters in Canada, has been up against it for years. The House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to stop deporting war resisters and to allow them to stay in Canada, then reaffirmed it with a second majority vote - and both times the Harper government ignored the will of the majority. It's maddening, and it's wrong. In April 2005, as leader of the Opposition, Harper said, "The Prime Minister has the moral obligation to respect the will of Parliament." Indeed, he does.

Of course the war resisters issue is but one example of many. No one can remember every instance - unless we're keeping track. Lucky for us someone was.

Mum's the word till message vettedNo federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.

Public service in crisis over ColvinThe Harper government's attack on a senior diplomat could be the final blow in the unravelling of Canada's once-sacred tradition of an independent, non-partisan public service, warn experts

PM Never Too Busy For a Photo OPSummoning hordes of photographers to document your every move following a massive humanitarian disaster, and then not letting reporters ask questions seems very disingenuous, and a little ridiculous. The intent is obviously to make Mr. Harper look Prime Ministerial, but I think if the public knew the context behind the images they were seeing they would feel exactly the opposite.

What's Wrong With This PictureThe PMO is sending out a steady stream of publicity photos in the hope they will be used in newspapers and blogs across the country. But photojournalists believe Harper's handlers are going too far in trying to control his image

Gomery slams Harper for ignoring himThe man who investigated the sponsorship scandal says Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have abandoned any commitment he once had to transparent government in favour of a top-down style that centralizes power in his own hands.

Tories opened patronage doors before election: CPHarper, who railed against Liberal patronage in the 2006 election, later failed to deliver on a campaign pledge to put an independent commission in charge of vetting cabinet appointments. He angrily shelved the idea after opposition MPs refused to ratify his nomination of Gwyn Morgan, a Calgary oil baron who is also a friend of the prime minister, as the commission chair.

Prentice defends use of government jetAn analysis of federal air travel by a French-language television network found that 15 ministers had used the private plane 72 times after four years in office, including 31 trips that did not appear to meet government criteria for use of the plane.

Tories stall on Liberal request for jet passengersThe Harper government says it is unable to provide the names of passengers who have flown on its fleet of Challenger executive jets since 2006 because it would take longer than a month-and-a-half to assemble the list.

Tory dissenters 'idiots, turds'Workers on the campaign of a Conservative MP who declined to participate in the in-and-out advertising scheme in the 2006 election were denounced as "idiots" and a "bunch of turds" by senior party officials, who wanted to "put the fear of God" into them for not taking part in the contentious TV and radio purchases.

"... new book made the claim that former Conservative MP Chuck Cadman was essentially offered financial inducements [a $1 million life insurance policy] by Conservative party officials to vote down the Liberal government's 2005 budget ... Chuck Cadman's widow [a current Conservative MP] has said her late husband told her about the offer. Two other family members say Cadman told them the same thing ..."Quoted from "Dion, Harper clash over Cadman allegations"

Tories outspent Liberals on consultantsThe Conservative government spent almost $1 billion on consultants in its first two years in office – nearly double what the Liberals spent in a similar time period

Harper was in on the ground floor of coalition buildingIronically, it was Stephen Harper who first brought the option of vaulting to power from the benches of the official Opposition to the fore in the early days of Paul Martin's 2004 minority regime. Even before the presentation of Martin's Speech from the Throne, Harper had sought out his two opposition rivals to lay the groundwork of an alliance to unseat the Liberals.

Harper zigzags on economyFor the past three months, the only thing consistent about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's position on the economy has been its inconsistency

CONTEMPT FOR CANADA AND CANADIANS

"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status..."Stephen Harper, National Post editorial, 2000

"Whether Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion ..."Stephen Harper, Speech to the Colin Brown Memorial Dinner, National Citizens Coalition, 1994

"If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away ... This is one more reason why Westerners, but Albertans in particular, need to think hard about their future in this country. After sober reflection, Albertans should decide that it is time to seek a new relationship with Canada ... Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it. It is to take the bricks and begin building another home – a stronger and much more autonomous Alberta. It is time to look at Quebec and to learn. What Albertans should take from this example is to become 'maitres chez nous'."Stephen Harper, National Post, December 8, 2000

"You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."Stephen Harper, The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001

"I think in Atlantic Canada ... there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome. ... Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country."Stephen Harper, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, May 29, 2002

PM's 'bizarre' report card under attackCritics charge that not only are his claims that he and the Conservatives saved the economy meaningless, his pattern of disdain for Parliament reached new levels when he upstaged his finance minister and delivered the [economic] update while overseas.

Conservatives 'fume' about blunderTheir blades remain sheathed but astonished Conservatives are quietly fuming about the tactical blunder they fear could toss them into opposition. And the blame seems to be landing on the prime minister's doorstep.

Canadian Leader Shuts ParliamentCanada's parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage on Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down the legislature until Jan. 26, seeking to forestall a no-confidence vote that he was sure to lose ...

The Economist vents spleen on PM's decision to prorogue"His officials faced grilling by parliamentary committees over whether they misled the House of Commons in denying knowledge that detainees handed over to the local authorities by Canadian troops in Afghanistan were being tortured. The government would also have come under fire for its lack of policies to curb Canada's abundant carbon emissions."

'Harper goes prorogue,' The Economist laments"Never mind what his spin doctors say: Mr. Harper's move looks like naked self-interest," says the editorial. The editorial likens Canadian ministers to hapless former U.S. president Gerald Ford, "who could not walk and chew gum at the same time."

CBC Report on Conservatives' leaked "dirty tricks manual"Only days after filibustering several committees, a leaked document seems to prove the Conservative government has been deliberately wrecking havoc. ... Spring of 2007: a Conservative manual to purposely and deliberately disrupt and make the government committees dysfunctional. ...

I've been saving these links for a few years and finally found a forum to paste them. I've organized them in a logical way, which I hope shows a persistent pattern of attack on Canada's democratic institutions, of which the latest prorogation is only the latest example. The scale of this attack is truly frightening! As you can see from the sheer volume of HEADLINES and LINKS alone (with very little content) that fear for our democracy should not be limited to a few paranoid types or to anyone of a particular political persuasion but to anyone that cares about living in a free society. ...

Conservatives and supporters often try to blame the Liberals before them, or someone else. ... But it wasn't until the Conservative government was in power than problems began to surface (and it was the Conservatives who did nothing about the problems) Fact: General Rick Hillier, acting on his own or not as the case may be, signed a deeply flawed agreement to turn over detainees to the Afghan authorities in December 2005, during an election campaign. The Conservatives were elected a month later. Instances of mistreatment were reported by Richard Colvin to his superiors, first in May 2006, and well into 2007.

HYPOCRITICAL HARPER QUOTES

"The first principle of a democracy is that the Prime Minister is supposed to be able to face this House of Commons any day on a vote. This government now has the deliberate policy of avoiding a vote. This is a violation of the most fundamental constitutional principle of our democracy."Stephen Harper as Leader of the Opposition, attacking the Martin government, May 3, 2005

"When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern."Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005

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